What a great gun! I ordered it on Saturday from Grab-a-Gun, $429 for the Pro model (no external thumb safety). I picked it up on Tuesday and went shooting today.
The trigger: I love the trigger, it's completely smooth through the whole motion from start to finish. There doesn't seem to be a clear discernable point at which the gun fires, so I'm not even sure if "trigger creep" would be the right term. It couldn't be more than 5 pounds, if that. Very nice.
The grip: Very nice. It actually has some complaints online. I think I watched most You Tube videos about the Max 9. Some people didn't like the grip angle, others didn't like the texture. I'm just not sure why. To me it felt very positive without being too aggressive. With the 12 round magazine, there is plenty of room from my little pinky finger, which really isn't that little. I also appreciate how, no matter how high I make my hands grip the gun there is absolutely no issue with potential slide bite. I have a Kimber EVO, and that is always a concern.
Other reviews said the whole gun is "blocky." But I don't get that either. Honestly all the guns in this class of sub-compact look so similar. This gun actually looks nicer than the Taurus, or the S&W Shield, and very, very similarly looking to the Hellcat.
The not so good:
I'm not sure why, but if the slide is locked back, say after finishing a magazine, and I insert a loaded magazine, the "slingshot method" to close the slide won't work. I have to use the slide stop button on the side. BUT, if the slide is closed, and I insert a loaded magazine, then I can use the slingshot method to load a round into the chamber. I'm not sure why this is, but it's annoying, no other gun I have does this.
Has anyone else noticed this? It's very strange.
On one round out of around 100, the slide locked open with more ammo in the magazine. I'm left handed, so I know I definitely did NOT touch the slide stop button in any way. But, even once is far too much, especially for a carry gun. I'm going back next weekend to see if this happens again. One reviewer online said his Max 9 did it so much, he sent the gun back to Ruger, and they replaced the frame. Hmmm.... wonder if this is a bigger issue.
Also bad, (last one) The gun shoot low. Like 18 - 24 inches low at 10 yards. I was having to aim above the target in order to hit anything. The accuracy is there, because the groups were really impressive. Nice and tight, all rounds grouped right in the center of the target, if I aimed well above that is. The same review who returned his gun also mentioned shooting low. After returning his gun, he said it did in fact shoot much better... Otherwise, the sights are very nice. The front fiber optic sight has a really big dot. It makes picking up the target quick and easy.
I'll know more after I put another 100 rounds through the gun. But I do very much like it. When shooting, the gun wasn't "snappy" like lots of people said. Perhaps I just have a tight grip, but the recoil wasn't bad at all. And like I said, the gun is accurate.
Oh, and I was using factory ammo, Remington 115 grain.